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1st LD Writethru: Air Canada flight that crash landed hit antenna array before landing

Xinhua, March 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Air Canada plane that crash landed early Sunday struck an antenna array that knocked off the main landing gear as it attempted to touch down in the midst of a snow storm at the airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada's Transportation Safety Board said on Sunday.

The damage caused the Flight AC624, an Airbus 320 that left Toronto late Saturday, to skid about 335 meters, said Mike Cunningham, a regional manager for the Transport Safety Board.

"They touched down 1,100 feet (335 meters) short of the runway so I'd say they're pretty lucky," he told a news conference.

Cunningham said the plane hit an antenna array, shearing the main landing gear off before sliding on its belly onto the runway for another 1,100 feet before coming to a stop.

Cunningham said there was significant damage to the plane and could not rule out weather as a factor, although Air Canada stressed that the plane was safe to fly in the snowstorm.

Images posted by the Transportation Safety Board show the plane on its belly with heavy damage to its nose and an engine crumpled under a damaged wing.

The Airbus A320 was carrying 133 passengers and five crew. Police and the airport said 25 people were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

However, an Air Canada update said 23 passengers and crew were hospitalized, and by Sunday afternoon all but one of the admitted have been released.

"We at Air Canada are greatly relieved that no one was critically injured. We will also fully cooperate with the Transportation Safety Board as it begins an investigation to determine the cause," Klaus Goersch, the airline's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, said in a statement.

Local media reported it was snowing heavily when the accident occurred at around 00:43 a.m. local time. Goersch said it was safe for flight AC624 to land in snowy weather, and the cause for crash landing was still unclear.

Some passengers on board believed the plane hit a power line while descending. However, Halifax airport spokesperson Peter Spurway said he cannot confirm it was related to the crash. Power lines are down on the south side of the airport.

Spurway said "the airplane made a bad landing." A passenger said the plane was circling the airport for at least 30 minutes waiting for a good time to land. As the plane was coming down, there was "a big flash."

A secondary runway is in operation at the airport, so flights have resumed. Changes in flight schedules are expected and the airport is asking people to check with their airline for flight information. Endite